INTERVIEWS
Noizu and Dombresky On Friendship, Love of 90’s House Music, and Massive Palladium DJ Set
Whether it’s the melodic piano stabs, synthesizer riffs, or even the signature four-on-the-floor beats, the undeniable sounds of 90’s house music trigger fond memories for both Noizu and Dombresky. Having been surrounded by its euphonic grooves back in Europe, the duo would eventually incorporate those nostalgic beats in their collaborative projects. Prior to joining forces, though, they found success with their own unique take on contemporary house music. As Noizu rebranded his image, he found success with tracks like “Jungle,” “Wavey,” “Inside My Head” and “DANCE”. Not to be outdone, Dombresky produced a series of big hits as well, in particular “Soul Sacrifice” and “Utopia.” Alre...
Artist of the Month TOMORROW X TOGETHER on Connecting Through Their Music: “We Want Our Fans to Be Proud”
We’re taking a break from our 2021 Annual Report to recognize our last Artist of the Month of the year! AOTM is an accolade given to an up-and-coming artist or group who is poised for the big time. In December 2021, we recognize K-pop act TOMORROW X TOGETHER, who continue to solidify themselves as 4th-generation leaders in the genre. Throughout 2021, TOMORROW X TOGETHER was frozen in time. The K-pop group (whose name is often shortened to TXT) burst onto the international scene with a remarkable debut in 2019 and quickly amassed a no-skips reputation. The still very young group was poised to explode in 2020 — when the world, of course, came to a screeching halt. It must have been somewhat frustrating for the five members — Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai — but if that’s th...
Hailey Whitters: From the Cornfields to Country Success
Hailey Whitters is exuberant when she calls during an Uber ride from her Nashville home to Ryman Auditorium. The night before, the rising country singer just performed there for the first time, opening for Midland, and she’ll do it again after we speak. Gracing the Ryman’s illustrious stage is a sure sign that an artist has arrived – something that Whitters clearly understands and appreciates. “The Ryman is so legendary,” Whitters says with awe. “When people ask what my bucket list venue is, it’s been the Ryman. So it’s pretty surreal – last night I got to stand on that stage and sing, and it was this really emotional moment to be able to see that dream actually come to fruition.” Opening for Midland through Christmas, Whitters will fulfill another career goal – going on her first headlini...
The Wire Star Sonja Sohn on Wanting to Give Back to Baltimore With Her New HBO Documentary The Slow Hustle
The Slow Hustle is a story about corruption and a story about persistence. The HBO documentary, directed by Sonja Sohn, is technically focused on the unsolved murder of Baltimore police detective Sean Suiter. But the story that emerges is a portrait of a police force so weighed down by corruption and other issues that it’s incapable of finding the truth behind what happened to one of its own — raising the question of what function the police serves in our society. The project is Sohn’s second documentary, following the 2017 film Baltimore Rising, which she directed after spending time in Baltimore after the uprising that occurred after Freddie Gray’s death — though it hadn’t originally been her idea to direct that film. Instead, after getting to know some of the activists involved in the u...
I Guess We’re Done: Kevin Whelan Looks to the Future With Aeon Station
The guy I remember from an album that boasted of being a 30-something “best 17-year old ever” making about $13,000 a year greets me showered and blue-blazered, sporting a white oxford and an equally bright smile. Kevin Whelan calls his Zoom profile picture his “LinkedIn look,” and it betrays an unexpected quirk of a Google search I conducted just prior to my conversation with the Aeon Station frontman: “Kevin Whelan Johnson and Johnson” pops up ahead of “Kevin Whelan Wrens.” Whelan’s official job title is Global Head of R&D Strategic Initiatives and Operations, and he manages about 400 employees. Since 2003, it’s been far more likely that Whelan could give someone a job than a new Wrens song. More disturbing is that the third entry is “Kevin Whelan Obituary.” “Work, rock and then death...
How 2021 Band of the Year CHVRCHES Navigated a COVID-Challenged Galaxy
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with the announcement of CHVRCHES as our Band of the Year. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. The last couple of years have undoubtedly been chaotic — and while many artists have used these uncertain times to provide a distraction, others, like CHVRCHES, our 2021 Band of the Year, have embraced that chaos to create profound and inspired works. CHVRCHES’ fourth studio album, Screen Violence, features the band working at the highest level since their debut, and with a little bit of cinematic horror and drama added to the mix, they sound like a band renewed. Tracks like “How Not To Drown (featuring Robert Smith),” which landed at No. 8 on our...
Alan Fitzpatrick On Why His First Album In Over a Decade “Feels Like His Debut”
“Putting music out for the club, it feels like I can do that with my eyes closed,” mused Alan Fitzpatrick in an exclusive interview with EDM.com. “I do that so often—it’s natural for me.” Since his appearance in the techno scene more than a decade ago, Fitzpatrick has amassed an impressive canon of music, from smash hit “We Do What We Want” to a remix of Shannon’s 1983 electro-funk record, “Let The Music Play.” Just last year, the Brit released a whopping 24—yes, 24—original tracks, including two EPs with his under-the-radar electronica alias, 3STRANGE. But in 2019 Fitzpatrick decided it was time for him to try something new, stepping outside of his creative comfort zone to embark on his first album since 2010. And Machine Therapy, out now via Anjunadeep, was born. Complet...
Gina Jeanz Breaks Down Each Song On Her Spellbinding Debut Album, “Lucid Theory”
It’s no secret that the current generation of young music producers is about as creative as they come. From the endless libraries of music available online to the fast-paced evolution of music-making technology, their artistries have been catalyzed by unprecedented access to education and inspiration. The result? Experimental aesthetics, enticingly textured soundscapes and respect for— yet rampant disregard of—genre. The debut album from rising Namibian producer Gina Jeanz proves no different. Released independently on December 3rd, Lucid Theory is equal parts old and new, reigniting well-known sonics and drum machines with multidimensional arrangements and whimsical genre blends. Jeanz also plays with euphonious vocalists and live instrumentation, channeling the comp...
Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen on Servant of the Mind, Tour with Ghost, and Metallica’s Black Album
Danish rockers Volbeat are back with their eighth studio album, Servant of the Mind, just released via Republic Records. Musically, the album hearkens back to the band’s earlier, heavier days, with relentless riffing and punching rhythms, while also representing how far they’ve come as a group. “You can definitely hear a band that sounds very young, but at the same time, a band that has a lot of experience with the style we started so many years ago,” frontman Michael Poulsen tells Heavy Consequence. In addition to releasing the new album, Volbeat are prepping for a highly anticipated co-headlining US arena tour with Swedish metal masters Ghost. The outing kicks off January 25th in Reno, Nevada, and runs through a March 3rd show in Anaheim, California. Tickets are available now via Ticketm...
Understanding Jason Boland’s ‘Borderline Cosmic’ Sci-Fi Country Magnum Opus
Like a transmission from a celestial CB radio, Jason Boland’s The Light Saw Me crackles to life with a garble of white noise that slows to a fiddle crawl and simmers there, hovering in the interstitial space between psychedelic country and barroom honky-tonk — and that’s just the first minute. On the record’s freewheeling prelude, “Terrifying Nature,” Boland’s narrator engages with the ageless, persistent question: What if we’re not alone in the universe? A query that sets off the unlikely trajectory of a sci-fi country concept album. As the far-fetched tale begins to unfold, what might seem like a strange juxtaposition to most folks, instead, amounts to a mid-career magnum opus for the Oklahoma songwriter and his band, The Stragglers. The gist: An 1890s cowboy is abducted by aliens and en...
Heavy Culture: Alien Weaponry on Māori Ideology, New Album Tangaroa, and Touring with Gojira
Heavy Culture is a monthly column from journalist Liz Ramanand, focusing on artists of different cultural backgrounds in heavy music, as they offer their perspectives on race, society, and more as it intersects with and affects their craft. The latest installment of this column features Lewis and Henry de Jong of Alien Weaponry. New Zealand metal act Alien Weaponry have recently released their latest album, Tangaroa, and they also wrapped up a tour supporting supporting Gojira and Knocked Loose. The band’s music is written and sung in both Māori and English, with themes that center around the ideologies and history of the culture. Heavy Consequence caught up with brothers Lewis de Jong (vocals, guitar) and Henry de Jong (drums) while they were on the road with Gojira. They spoke about tour...
Kenny G and Director Penny Lane on Making a Documentary, Flying in His Seaplane, and Defying the Critics
In her introduction to Listening to Kenny G, the latest in Bill Simmons’ Music Box documentary series for HBO, director Penny Lane sets out her thesis statement thusly: “Kenny G is the best-selling instrumentalist of all time. He is probably the most famous living jazz musician. And I made this film to find out why that makes certain people really angry.” What follows is a fascinating (though decidedly Kenny-sympathetic) portrayal of the legendary saxophonist, who’s long held the title of the highest-selling instrumentalist in the world. But while he’s been a pop culture icon for decades, he’s also been a punchline, with his frizzy hair and his popularizing of “smooth jazz” into the pop-culture consciousness. To resist Kenny is to resist muzak in elevators, or the riff from “Going Home” th...
